Mail-delivery vehicle



April 14, 1925.

E. J. DOUGLAS MAIL DELIVERY VEHICLE Filed March 12, 1925 a mwmwmwill L Ql ,m s

E. J. DOUGLAS NI/ENTOR.

TTORNEY Patented Apr. 14, 1925.

PATENT OFFICE.

ELIZABETH J. DOUGLAS, OF CRETE, NEBRASKA.

MAIL-DELIVERY VEHICLE.

Application filed March 12, 1923.

T0 all whom, it may concern."

Be it known that I, ELizAn'rH J. DoUG- Las, a citizen of the United States, residing at'Crete, in the county of Saline and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and use-ful Ilnprovements in Mail-Delivery Vehicles, of which the following isa specification. i

My invention relates to vehicles which are used for the transportation and delivery of mail, and the primary object of the invention is to provide a device which will vrelieve the mail carrier of much of the burden of carrying the mail and which at the same time will great-ly expedite the work. These and other objects will be more fully dwelt uponin the description.

In the present methods of delivering mail, the carrier is provided with one or more. pouches of heavy leather, these pouches being intended and used mainly for mail of the first class. The newspapers and other printed matter, and in some cases also the parcels post packages, are held together by leather straps and are thus carried. These latter bundles especially are insecure, and.

because of their irregular shapes and the difficulty of holding them and `of keeping their weight properly distributed, they cause the carrier a great deal of trouble and annoyance. The carrier is compelled to shift the burdens frequently to restore the balance of the loa-d which is constantly being disturbed both by the shifting of the bundles and byl the deliveries which are being made on the route. All of this is particularly true of mail delivery during the holidays and other rush seasons. The net resultA is that the mail carrier each day becomes unnecessarily fatigued, and unless he takes great precautions, he in time becomes deformed from carrying the heavy, unbalv anced loads.

lReferring now to the drawings which are part of my applimtion, and in which like nun'erals designate like parts in the description,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my in vention.

Figure 2 is a rear elevation of my invention as it appears when at rest.

Figure is a detail showing one of the Serial No. 624,469.

legs and a portion of the rod connecting the twolegs.

Figure 4; is a detail illustrating the manner in which the hooks may be attached to the upper part of the frame.

The frame of my mail carrying vehicle is rectangular in form, and is made up of a top member 10, a botton'rmember 11, afront member 12, and a rear member 13, These members are secured together at their corners by T-joints' or couplings 1&1. I prefer the use of steel tubing similar to that of 'which bicycle frames are made, but I do not desire to restrictn'iyself to this or any other specific material.v

Suitably journalled in the front tubular member 12 is a shaft which terminates at its upper' end ina crank handle 15 and at its lower end in a fork 16. To the lower rear coupling I secure a similar fork 17, this fork being prefe lably securedagainst swivelling. In both of the forks I secure wheels of relatively small dia-meter. The wheels are preferably light in weight and strong, and they are rubber tired. In order to make them as easy running as possible, I provide roller or ball bearings or other friction reducing devices at the places where the axles are journalled in the fork arms. I also secure a strong, light-weight metal fabric or cross wires to the fourv members of the frame, this fabric having the double purpose of reinforcing the frame and of serving a support for various small pouches and parcels.

To the lower horizontal member 11 of the frame I secure two straps 19 which are more or less L-shaped, the straps being designed for the support of the platform 20. The platform is covered with a mat of rubber, sheet cork, or other suitable material, and is preferably dished. It is of a size to comfortably support one of the mail carriers feet. Secured to the under side of the platlform are two small wheels 21 arranged in the on the platform in the same manner in which childrens scooters are propelled. In order to turn corners and to avoid collisions, the carrier simply grasps the crank handle lo with his free hand to steer 'the vehicle in any direction which he chooses.

It is desirable that the vehicle be self supporting in nprigl'it position while the mail carrier is making deliveries and at other times. If the vehicle carries no unbalanced loa d, the platform and its suppo-rts will tend to hold the vehicle upright when at rest, but it will usually be unbalanced with the load of mail` the greater weight being on the side opposite the carrier. I have therefore added to the structure a pair of swinging props or legs To each of the upper couplings 'ist I secure a'ppair of spaced ears 24, and I pivot the upper end of each leg 23 between one pair of ears. The foot 25 of cach leg is padded to prevent slippage, and the of the pair are connected near Vtheir bottoms hy means of a rod 2G. It is apparent that when the vehicle in upright position, the 'legs will rest againstthe vframe of the vehicle, but when the vehicle tilts on its .veighted side the legs will swing into supporting position. To limit the outward swinging of the legs, I provide bails or hooks 2T on the upright members l2 and 13.

The inail pouches and parcels are supported on the lframe of my vehicle in any desired manner, but my preferred forms of attaching means are shown in my drawings. To the upper member 10 and side members l2 and 13 I attach hooks :2S and 29 respectively. The hooks 28 ordinarily support the usual mail pouches, but when there are unusual amounts of mail, as during the holidays, 'all of the supporting hooks come into play. The smaller' pouches and bundles may be hung from the fabric on the carriers side of the vehicle, as shown at 30.

The size of my vehicle is governed largely by convenience. The platform is placed l where it will be only a few inches above the sidewalk or pavement, thus making it possible for the carrier to step on and off without difficulty. The height of the frame 1s y such that the handgrip can be grasped and held without inconvenience or strain. In length I prefer to make the fra-me so thatit will carry two of the standard mall pouches on either side of the hand grip and spaced( sufficiently from the hand grip to avoid hating the carriers hand.

The mail carrier using my vehicle can travel on sidewalks and pavements with greatspeed even when carrying heavy loads: and he can do this with the minimum of fatigue. Ile is not subjected to any detorniing strains as when carrying a load which is supported on his'body.

M v invention while designed mainly and primarily for the delivery of mail, is cap( able of other uses. For the delivery of parcels from stores it will be found to be invaluable. Messengers who travel on foot ywill find their Work greatly expedited by using my vehicle.

l-laviug thus fully described my invention and its uses, what I believe to be new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:-

l. In a mail delivery vehicle, a rectangular frame consisting of a top rail, a bottom rail, and a pair 4ofend rails, a pair of supporting wheels positioned beneath said bottom rail, one at each end of the rectangular frame, the wheel at the forward end of the frame being'pivoted to a steering post which extends above the level of the top rail and terminates in a steering handle, a hand gri on said top rail at its middle point, -eacli of `said end rails having pivoted thereto at its' upper extremity a supporting le'g, said supporting legs having limited swing 'ing movement outwardly'to support the yein said tubular front rail, a fork at they lower extremity of said steering post, a 'supporting and steering wheel journalled in said fork, a steering arm at the upper eX- tremity of said steering post, a fork rigidly secured to said rear rail at its lower extremity, a supporting wheel journalled in said last named fork, a hand grip on `said top rail at its middle point, said front and rear rails being each provided with a. pair of ears projecting 'laterally at the upper extremity thereof, a

supporting leg pivotally secured in each of said pairs of ears, abutments limiting the outward swinging movement of said supporting legs whereby said legs will support the vehicle in inclined position when the vehicle is at rest, a pair of L-.shaped arms secured to said bottom rail and projecting on .the side opposite the supporting legs, a platform secured to the horizontal portions of said L-shaped arms, and a pairof supporting wheels underneath 'the said platform.

In a mail delivery vehicle, a rectangular fra-me consisting of a top rail, a bottom rail, and front and rear end rails, a rectangular piece of metal fabric secured at its edges to said rails, a pair of supporting wheels positioned beneath said bottom rail5 said Wheels being secured to said front and rear rails, the forward one of said wheels being provided with means for steering the vehicle, a pair of swinging supporting legs pivoted to said frame at its upper edge and at one side thereof, a platform secured to said bottom rail and projecting laterally from the frame on the side opposite the supporting legs, and hooks for suspending parcels and the like on the Jframe, said hooks being secured to both of Said end rails and to said top rail and to said metal fabric.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

ELIZABETH J. DOUGLAS. 

